Big Trees prepared 12 large Excelsa Cedars for handling and shipping in container trucks, and began the process of loading out the trucks to head to the border. The trees were 22 feet tall and weighed 4,000 to 5,000 pounds each. Once the trees crossed the border and were onsite, they were unloaded and placed with a crane into the property in strategic locations for a screening effort.Todd Holmes, Operations Manager at Big Trees, mentioned: “Sending large trees over any distance can become problematic. From the build of a large root ball starting to sag as it bounces down the highway, to how the trees are protected from any wind exposure. There are lots of ways for things to get compromised and for the receiving team to get trees they can’t work with. Our crews have been honing many techniques for these unusual, living freight efforts, and it’s a thrill to know things all went as planned from the front office to the last tree being unloaded and planted into the landscape.
Nancy Penrose is the owner of Big Trees Inc., located in Snohomish, WA in the Seattle area. The company is one of the largest tree nurseries in the Seattle area with over 120,000 trees available in over 300 varieties. They not only deliver young trees, but also mature trees in a wide range of sizes. Some types of trees available include spring flowering, deciduous, evergreen, and privacy trees. The company also does tree transplanting including large trees. Their blog can be seen at http://www.bigtreesupply.com/blog/ or http://arboristblog.com/. They can be reached at 360-563-2700.
Unfortunately, trees are often damaged during construction and may even die shortly after construction has been completed. This causes the homeowner to remove and replace the damaged trees, which adds expense and time. It’s important to protect trees from construction as much as possible, for both the trees’ and homeowner’s sake.
A customer came to Big Trees in a state of disbelief that their home’s privacy would soon be compromised by a significant development that is set to break ground by the end of Summer 2017. Their property has been sheltered by a forest to the east of their backyard since they purchased their property a decade ago. The customer was given notice of the upcoming development and soon realized that their 6-foot tall fence was all that would remain between them and the noise and construction. This lead them to come to Big Trees, desperate for a solution for this calamity in their home lives. To help the customer gain back their privacy, 
Trees get their water and nutrients from soil, which is made up of minerals and organic materials like leaves, plants and insects. Soil is one of the main factors that influence a tree’s health and growth.
The client’s neighbors opened up a large view corridor between the client’s windows by removing an existing hedge on their side of the fence line. Wanting a solution immediately, the client contacted Big Trees. One aspect of the project was to find a plant large enough to replace the previous hedge. The second aspect was the access into the backyard was too small for the needed equipment to handle a larger plant.
Big Trees was contacted a year ago regarding a large scale, waterfront project. Initially, they were consulted to salvage trees that were not reusable. However, as the project continued to develop, Big Trees was asked to offer their services again by saving and reusing a large number of specimen trees, which were reusable. These 50 trees were comprised of Japanese Maple, Styrax Snowball trees and Magnolias.
Pines live a long time, with some reaching ages of more than 1,000 years. The tree’s leaves, which range in color from blue to dark green, are long and needle-like. The needles will remain on the tree for a couple of years. When the older needles drop off, they are replaced with new ones. The needles can range in size from 1 to 11 inches long. They will usually grow in bundles of two to five needles.